![]() A small window was cut in the forward bulkhead of the cabin. These instruments allowed ground controllers to monitor how the dog functioned and died in space. The aluminum cabin was equipped with a television camera, along with sensors to measure ambient pressure and temperature, as well as the canine passenger's blood pressure, breath frequency and heartbeat. The core of the second satellite would be a dog cabin, measuring 0.8 meters in length and 0.64 meters in diameter, it derived from the retrievable container, used to launch dogs onboard research rockets. Exactly how "new" was still opened to debate half a century later. To meet the November anniversary deadline, an "entirely new" concept for a Sputnik carrying a dog had emerged, most sources claim. At the same time, a mere repetition of the previous launch was not good enough. However, it could not possibly be ready for takeoff before December 1957, therefore it was destined to become the third satellite. ( 261) This exuberance would not last, however.Īt the time of the decision to launch Sputnik-2, Korolev had a sophisticated research satellite (Object D) in the works. As remembered by Boris Chertok, one of Korolev's associates, in the aftermath of the first Sputnik the main business of the day for remaining employees at OKB-1 was drawing up lists for government awards and bragging to each other about upcoming bonuses. With the launch of the first artificial satellite on October 4, 1957, and resulting world-wide fanfares at full blast, Korolev dismissed many of his staff at OKB-1 design bureau for a long overdue vacation. Perched on top of a giant rocket, a tiny window could provide a glimpse of the home planet to the first creature ever sent to orbit the Earth. Years after Sputnik 2 burned up in the atmosphere, conflicting scenarios of Laika's death were circulating in the West, along with few other misconceptions about this historic mission. The Cold War politics left no time for designers to develop a reliable life-support system, not to mention the heat shield to protect a spacecraft from a fiery reentry. However it soon became clear that the animal would not return. ![]() Now four weeks later, the Soviet press boasted about the 508.3-kilogram spacecraft carrying the first-ever live passenger - a dog named Laika. spacecraft under development at the time. The 84-kilogram Sputnik-1 looked very heavy compared to the U.S. The Space Age had barely started less than a month before, with the launch of the first Soviet satellite on October 4, 1957. On November 3, 1957, the USSR stunned the world with a new space sensation - the launch of Sputnik-2 carrying a dog onboard. The USSR orbits second artificial satellite with dog Laika onboard The author of this page will appreciate comments, corrections and imagery related to the subject.
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